Tanzania has announced new restrictions on industrial involvement in fishing on Lake Victoria, highlighting rising regional alarm over the sustainability of Africa’s largest freshwater fishery and the millions of people who rely on it for food and income

The Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, Bashiru Ally Kakurwa, said that industries would no longer be permitted to participate directly in fishing activities on the lake, arguing that commercial practices were accelerating fish stock depletion and marginalising small-scale fishermen.

Kakurwa said Tanzania would tighten enforcement of existing regulations, including shoreline buffer protections and bans on destructive fishing gear.